Realization
by Cherrie Keane
Summary: Virgil has to see Richie in the hospital, be damned what his father says. He needs to see him. Takes place right after the episode 'Jimmy'. VR fluff, nothing major. I just wanted to write something angsty. Rated T for angst and a few explicatives.


So tonight I watched the episode 'Jimmy' and I totally loved it. Not only because it had a positive message, but because of all the SLASHY GOODNESS. Seriously, V's worry for Richie once he gets shot is so adorable. It definitely made me smile like a maniac. ESPECIALLY when he was in therapy.

So I wrote something. Just a little drabble, nothing major. I apologize in advance for any OOCness or angst. I was trying ti write from experience and I found it a little difficult since its been a while since I tapped into those feelings.

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own. No. Moneys. Poor. College. Student. No. Sue. Blaaaaahhh.

* * *

Virgil couldn't exactly place what was worse, the waiting, or what he was waiting for.

He sat in the hospital waiting room, staring at the speckled tiles and threading his hands through his dreadlocks. His hands were the only part of him that was willing to move.

His hands, and his heart, which was thrumming so loudly that he could hear the echos in his ears. The pulse in his neck was so strong that he was sure that his head must be nodding with the movement. What was worse, the electricity running through his body ceased to stop and the hospital lights overhead flickered in response. He gave a soft moan as he tried to reel his powers in.

Beside him, his father put an assuring arm at his son's shoulder. Robert Hawkins had been with Richie when he was sent to the hospital. He got to see Richie's face, hear his voice, witness what the bullet had done to the young boys body.

An opportunity that Robert Hawkins had shielded his son away from.

But of course Virgil had ran to the hospital, ignoring his dad's orders to go home. He shrugged away from his father's touch, the frown on his face deepening. His dad let out an audible sigh, but withdrew, understanding Virgil's frustration with him for not allowing him to ride in the ambulance with Richie

"_As if I would sit at home while Richie...Richie was..."_

He couldn't bring the voice of his mind to say the word 'dying' loud enough. Richie couldn't be dying. No. Not Richie. That couldn't happen. It just...couldn't.

The thought of someone else that Virgil loved being taken away by a stray bullet was enough to bring tears to Virgil's eyes. He didn't want to cry, not here. But the tears came, blurring his vision along with their arrival. He closed his eyes, and willed a drop or two to hit the tiles beneath his feet. With his eyes determinedly shut, no more tears came, but the pain behind them lit up like a fire, refusing to be quelled.

"_Richie..."_

Not Richie. Not Richie too. Why Richie?

Anger reared its ugly head in the place of the fear. He was angry with Jimmy. He was angry with himself. He was angry at his father. He was angry at...at everything!

The electricity in his hands burst free of his self control for a moment, and the lights above glowed abnormally bright before a bulb popped in one of them. Virgil's head shot up and he regained control of his charge.

Some strangers in the waiting room looked up. Others, didn't move at all, and Virgil had a strange feeling that they were waiting on more grim circumstances than himself. Nobody seemed to be looking at Virgil specifically though. The nurse at the front desk looked up a moment, and then shook her head, muttering something about 'cheap hospital lights' before returning to her magazine.

Virgil looked back at the floor, this time opting to keep his hands in his lap.

He had an acute headache. He couldn't say that feeling so many things at once had never happened to him before though. He knew what it was like to lose someone important to a pointless accident. He had lost his mom in a similar incident as the one he faced now. Virgil remembered the emotions from when his mom died all too well. Anger. Sorrow. Confusion.

But at this moment, he felt new emotions joining the ranks of his already full head. Guilt. Regret. Longing.

He felt responsible for what had happened to Richie. He felt that he should have done more, said more, been quicker on the uptake. Maybe if he had flown faster, he could have saved Richie. Maybe if he had said something, Jimmy wouldn't have gone off the deep end. He regretted not acting. Something in him told him something was wrong, his insides practically screamed it. But he had ignored it. He wanted, more than anything, to see Richie's face, hear his voice. Some confirmation that he wasn't about to go through another nightmare like he did with his mom.

But Richie was different than his mom. Of course he was. Richie had come after Jeans death. He had been a blessing at a time when Virgil was sure that he would never be happy again. He remembered his life after his mom died. It was empty. He barely remembered the days after she died, except that they were terrible days, filled with sadness and strange people and tears.

But everything changed when he met Richie. When Virgil met Richie, he found that he could smile again, without even thinking about it. He could laugh, and play games outside, and actually smile. There was no forgetting his mom of course, and the feelings of her death never really disappeared, but from the day that Virgil had met Richie, his wounds had begun to heal. The gaping hole that was left in his heart had begun to fill with a love that was different that the love he had for his mom, but just as warm.

And when he had seen Richie's face, heard his scream in response to the gunshot, that warmth faltered like a flame in the wind. He had never felt his heart beat so painfully in his whole life_._

"_No...don't think about it"_ He heard his mind say protectively.

But he couldn't help it.

The image of Richie's face, screwed up in pain, the rip in his jeans, the blood barely beginning to flow from his thigh, the sound that Richie made in response to the pain, the way his voice cracked from the exertion, it seemed to echo in his head like a CD player on repeat. He couldn't stop it. The whole scene flashed across his mind unrelentingly. His head throbbed and for a moment he wished that his electric powers weren't so closely connected to his emotions.

"Virgil Hawkins?" It was an unfamiliar voice that broke Virgil from his thoughts. He looked up.

In the hallway directly in front of him were three people. One of them was a bespectacled man in a white coat. The other two, a small red headed woman and a large blonde man, were walking away from the doctor, unreadable expressions on each of their faces, though the mans face was slightly harder than the woman's. He looked Virgil's way briefly. The African American boy couldn't help but shudder under the mans gaze. Hostility flashed in those dark eyes before he ushered the small woman next to him into a seat at the opposite side of the room.

The doctor cleared his throat and called the name again. He looked around confusedly.

"That's me." Said Virgil, breaking free of the gaze and finally finding his voice.

"Come with me please." said the doctor evenly, and motioned for Virgil to follow him. Mr. Hawkins did not get up in response to his sons summonings, and Virgil felt slightly relieved. He followed the doctor down a few brightly lit halls, and after moments of silence only broken by the their footsteps and the occasional electronic beeping that emitted from some of the rooms, they stopped in front of a closed door.

The doctor turned to face Virgil, his hand on the doorknob.

"Richie Foley has requested you specifically." The doctor paused "And I will have you know that this blatantly breaks hospital procedure." Said the doctor, waving his free hand and glaring at Virgil with an emotionless face. At the moment, all Virgil could concentrate on was the steady drumbeat going on near his Adams apple. The older man continued. "That said, the patient refuses to calm down until he sees you."

Virgil's heart skipped a beat.

The doctors face softened a bit. "You have 10 minutes my boy. Make them count." He said as he turned to knob and allowed Virgil to enter the room. He heard the door click a few moments after he had passed through the rooms threshold, signaling that Virgil and the room's occupant were alone.

The hospital room was small, and full of equipment. Directly in front of him was the hospital bed, and two chairs to its left. There was the steady beeping of a heart monitor somewhere ahead of Virgil, but he didn't know where. He had eyes for only one thing in the room.

Upon seeing Richie, tears immediately burned the sides of Virgil's eyes. He couldn't help himself. He couldn't even move.

But the occupant propped up on the bed could.

"V-man, whats up?" said Richie in a small, but steady voice.

Virgil didn't understand how he had traveled from the door to Richie's side so quickly, but once he was there, all he could do was drape his arms across the other boys shoulders. He absently felt his back trembling in response to the held-back tears. Richie's heart monitor began beating rapidly, but after a moment, he felt Richie return the hug, pulling the other boy downward, closer to him.

The hug lasted only moments, but the the emotion left behind lingered. Virgil lowered himself into the chair closest to his best friend and tried to scrub at his eyes. Richie let out a low whistle.

"Man V...breathe. I'm the one who got shot here, remember?" said Richie, attempting a joke. His voice trembled.

"Richie!" protested Virgil as he snapped his head up.

"Ok , ok!" said Richie, raising his hands in surrender.

"Not funny man. I thought you..." he sighed. "I thought something bad happened to you bro." said Virgil, letting his hand trail into his dreads as he looked at the boy in front of him. Even though it was for a completely different reason than 5 minutes ago, his heart was still thumping painfully in his chest. Seeing Richie..._OK_... was enough to make Virgil shake with happiness. He had a hard time reigning in his powers once again, and the lights in Richie's room flickered. The blond boy smiled slightly and lowered his voice before speaking.

"So why did you show up as static anyway? Didn't you think it would be weird, a super hero showing up for some high school drama?" Said Richie slightly under his breath.

"My pops told me not to go. He went over with Jimmy's Dad, but I couldn't just _go home._" Said Virgil defensively.

Richie shrugged. "I just wondered. I worry about your cover V."

"Man, fuck my cover Rich! You got shot!" The intensity of the lights above increased for a moment, illuminating the room. Richie winced at Virgil's raised voice, use an an explicative and lack of control over his powers. Virgil willed himself to calm down.

"I'm OK man, seriously." Richie reached out and laid a hand on the other boys arm. "The doctors said that I'm fine. A little bed rest, taking it easy for a month or two, and I'm as good as gold." Virgil's eyes flickered from Richie's face to his left thigh, which was elevated and wrapped new bandages. He couldn't hide his apprehension.

"_Really_ Virg. Im OK. I wanted to see you." Virgil's face snapped back in Richie's direction. "You looked...pretty bad when they were taking me away." said Richie withdrawing his hand and regarding his friend worriedly. Virgil had a hard time picking out what to say next. He decided on a response a little less heavy than what he was thinking.

"I cant believe my father wouldn't let me come with you." said Virgil finally, not bothering to hide the hurt in his voice.

"its...its alright. I wanted you there, but I'm sure you didn't want hear me moan and complain the whole way. Ride to the hospital is pretty long." Richie tried, yet again, the lighten to mood.

But the boy opposite him was having none of that.

"That wouldn't have mattered at all, and you know it Rich." Richie tugged at the silver ring in his ear uncomfortably.

"V..." Richie was slightly frustrated. Virgil was making this harder than it had to be.

"I'm sorry bro I just...I don't know how to feel right now. When he shot you, when I saw you go down, I thought...it felt like...I had never felt so...ugh" Virgil buried his face in his hands for a minute, trying to push back everything he had felt from the moment he heard the gunshot to right before he entered Richie's room.

"You have _such_ a way with words bro." Richie mumbled under his breath. If Virgil had heard this, he made no confirmation that he had. Instead when he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest." He said through his hands. Richie rolled his eyes. He was getting annoyed.

"Funny, I thought my leg was burning off." Virgil moved his fingers slightly so that he could look at Richie. He looked like a child playing a nervous game of peek-a-boo

"Is that really how it feels?" he said, and Richie noticed the fear in his friends voice.

Richie nodded. "and let me tell you, its _nothing_ like the movies."

"I think you mentioned that before." Said V monotonously.

"it deserves re-iterating.

They sat for a moment in silence. Richie was slightly crestfallen. Virgil was taking this harder than he had expected. He knew that the other boy would want to see him after he couldn't be with him on the ride to the hospital, but he had never expected Virgil to be so vulnerable, so shaken. He was a superhero, didn't he deal with this kind of stuff everyday?

Still, something in Richie glowed. The warmth from its glow spread to his cheeks and he smiled. He couldn't say that he would be acting particularity different if the tables were turned and it was Virgil in this hospital bed.

He looked over at his best friend.

"Hey man, your OK right?" Asked Richie, a little unsure.

Virgil looked up and shook his head, as if movement could dispel his uncertainties. He could tell that he was actually scaring the blond boy. "Yeah man." He tried to bring himself back to normal by forcing a smile. "Nothing a little shock therapy wont fix."

"Oh ha-ha. _Very _funny." Said Richie, aiming a soft punch at his best friends arm. Virgil smiled genuinely this time. Richie returned the smile, and he noticed that there was something oddly familiar about the continued warmth in his chest that followed . He felt at ease in response to Virgil's grin.

The warm silence between them ebbed however, as Richie tried to asked about a more pressing matter.

"So...what about Jimmy?" he asked shyly.

"I dunno. He looked pretty messed up when you left. I didn't stick around though. I didn't even want to look at him." Said Virgil clenching his fists in his lap. Richie reached out to him.

"Virg, it wasn't his fault, it was an accident, they--"

It surprised Richie how quick Virgil lost control.

"I don't care! He shouldn't have brought it Rich! Nick shouldn't have—" The lights quivered dangerously.

"V! Listen to yourself. Calm down man." Richie was forced to wonder how close these emotions had been skimming the surface of his best friend. He tried to be patient, but Virgil protested.

"But Richie--"

"Its not Jimmy's fault. You didn't see his face man!" Richie's heart monitor beeped a little louder and faster for a second. Virgil quieted. Richie spoke softer after a moment. "He didn't want to hurt anyone, he just couldn't take it anymore. We had convinced him to drop it, to get help, but some of Nick's thugs jumped him. He pulled the trigger on accident." Finished Richie a little lamely.

The knot in Virgil's chest loosened a bit. In all the confusion, the rush of emotions and adrenaline, he had honestly thought that Jimmy had meant to shoot Richie.

Now that he heard the whole story, he felt slightly stupid at his rush of thoughts.

But he still hadn't forgiven the situation entirely

"Rich man, aren't you...I dunno...angry with him?" said Virgil, raising an eyebrow in Richie's direction.

Richie shook his head determinedly. "No, not really. The only person I'm mad at is myself. We should have said something sooner bro. I _knew_ something was up with him but..."

"I know Rich. I know. I feel pretty guilty too." said Virgil, unable to look away from his best friend, but suddenly wishing that he could stare at something else in the room. "But... Richie, how could we have known? We could have said something, yeah, but how could be have seen this coming?" Virgil reached out a hand, and touched Richie's shoulder. "We couldn't man"

Richie closed his eyes briefly, and then looked at the darker teen. "I know, I know. I just feel...pretty bad.

"Well you _did_ get shot in the leg today." said Virgil with a smile.

"Oh that? Tis' nothing but a flesh wound." Said Richie with a grin. Virgil couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, and soon both boys where laughing in earnest. It was later that Virgil would come to realize that this bout of laughter had little to do with the actual joke, and more to do with the realization that, if they could laugh freely, then all was going to be OK eventually. It was a relief really.

But the laughter ended abruptly as there was a knock on the door. The doctor had let himself in, and was facing the two boys, a small smile playing across his lips.

"Mr. Hawkins, your time is up I'm afraid." he said, not unkindly.

Was it really 10 minutes already?

He didn't want to go, but Virgil knew that all that was going to be said tonight between them was said already. And it helped that he was seriously tired. They had been at the hospital for hours and it was already dark.

"Hey man, Ill see you later OK? I'll vox you if I can." Said Richie breaking the silence and skirting over the code name for their secret communication system. Virgil smiled and stood up. He bumped fists with his best friend.

"Alright Rich. Save me a spot on your cast, alright?"

"You know it bro."

And with that Virgil was gone. The doctor lingered a moment to see him out and then closed the door behind him.

Richie stared at the door until it shut completely. Once he was fully alone, he settled down into his covers, and tried not to let the throbbing from his thigh bother him too much. He would need another pain killer soon.

Virgil had worried about him, the pain in his face made it obvious. Richie felt a little disappointed that their conversation had been a little less than deep, but he was pleased all the same. This was not the time nor place, but Richie could not shoo away the familiar warm feeling that lingered from V's presence. From the moment he had gotten shot to the present, he had found that most of his thoughts had been centered around the darker teen, but only up until the moment he walked in, Richie had finally understood why. The moment he had seen Virgil's face, felt his touch, heard his voice, Richie knew why he had begged for the other boys company, be damned with hospital procedure. He almost felt stupid for not realizing it before.

He fingered his earring absentmindedly and settled into his pillows. He was really very tired. Maybe getting in a little nap before he called V was a good idea.

Sleep came to him eventually, soft and safe, with his last thoughts lingering on the boy who had just left.


End file.
